Capitol Rebuild: Olympia

Rain, Rules, and Riot Grrrl

Olympia is either (1) a vibrant city surrounded by natural beauty with a government that works (2) or a gray town whose energy leaves with the state workers at 5 p.m.

Washington’s capital is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Let’s take a look at what I see.

How Did the Capitol End Up There?

There are a lot of decent-sized cities in the middle of Washington — Yakima, Wenatchee, Moses Lake — that fit the usual capital city mold: central location, access to water and transportation, and not too flashy. So how the hell did Washington’s capital wind up on the Pacific coast, an hour south of Seattle?

Can you believe… democracy?

Olympia, originally home to the Nisqually and Squaxin tribes, saw a wave of white settlers arrive during the 1849 California Gold Rush. By 1859, it was an incorporated town of just over 1,000 residents and already the capital of the Washington Territory — which at the time included Idaho and parts of Montana.

The initial capital decision wasn’t exactly a thoughtful statewide deliberation. Washington’s first territorial governor had never even set foot in the place. He picked Olympia because it was the only port on the Puget Sound with a federal Customs House. That was enough for him to sign off. A modest two-story Capitol building went up in 1856 and became home to the territorial legislature.

But the power brokers in Oregon wasn’t ready to give up the power it formerly had over its northern neighbors. The political leadership in Portland made several attempts to move the capital south to Vancouver, WA, conveniently located right across the Columbia River from Portland. After failing a few times, the Portland driven faction finally succeeded in getting a bill through the territorial legislature to make the move official to Vancouver.

But Olympia had a trick up its sleeve still. The local business owner in charge of printing the bill (yes, this was a real thing) conveniently left out the enabling language of the bill. The Washington Territorial Supreme Court eventually nullified the legislation, and the capital stayed put. Olympia Strong!

Fast forward to statehood in 1889, when Washington voters were given the chance to ratify the state constitution and choose the permanent capital. The ballot included six options:

• Olympia

• Ellensburg (central Washington)

• North Yakima (now just Yakima in central Washington)

• Yakima City (central Washington)

• Pasco (southeast corner of the state)

• Centralia (oddly, not central — just 25 miles south of Olympia)

No city received a majority in the first year, so voters were asked again the following year, this time with a narrowed-down ballot: Olympia, Ellensburg, and North Yakima. This time, two-thirds of voters picked Olympia.

With that settled, Olympia started to grow into its capital-city shoes. State investment in roads, rail, and infrastructure followed. By the early 1900s, the Legislature agreed to build a full Capitol Campus near the original site, overlooking Budd Inlet at the southern end of Puget Sound.

In 1911, an architectural competition selected New York-based Walter Wilder and Harry White to design the new complex. Their vision blended a number of progressive ideas:

1. The City Beautiful Movement

2. A “Capitol Group” — separate legislative, executive, and judicial buildings designed to look unified from a distance

3. A dramatic backdrop of the Olympic Mountains

4. The development of Capitol Lake to allow for a stunning reflection of the capitol building

The Legislative Building, with its soaring 287-foot masonry dome, is still the tallest of its kind in North America — and one of the tallest in the world.

Over the years, the campus has survived three major earthquakes, including the 2001 Nisqually quake, thanks to smart design and solid craftsmanship. Major seismic retrofits followed the 1949 and 1965 quakes, and in 2004, a $120 million renovation modernized the building with HVAC, plumbing, fire protection, and wireless tech — all while preserving its historic integrity.

My Experiences with Olympia

I’ve never actually been to Olympia. The closest I came was when my wife and I drove from Seattle to Portland — we took the scenic route through Mount Rainier instead of heading directly down I-5.

Seattle, on the other hand, made a big impression early. It was the first major city I visited outside the East Coast as a kid, and for a long time in my teens and twenties, I imagined it as the kind of place I might end up. I’ve had the chance to do some great work with Seattle DOT and visit family there, but beyond that, I don’t have much firsthand experience with the area.

What’s Working

Civic Infrastructure
“Good government” is a hard label to assign from a distance, but Olympia seems to have earned it. The city has adopted several forward-thinking plans — Olympia Strong: Economic Opportunity for Everyone and the Neighborhoods Plan among them — and you get the sense they’re not just sitting on a shelf. For a city of just over 50,000, Olympia clearly punches above its weight on climate, equity, and participatory planning. After watching a few City Council meetings, it even looks like elected officials actually listen during public comment. Imagine that.

There’s also a serious and sustained commitment to housing. Olympia was one of the first cities in Washington to pass a dedicated “Home Fund” levy for affordable housing — and they've stuck with it through thick and thin.

Place
Downtown Olympia may lack some basics — and doesn’t always feel vibrant — but it’s compact, walkable, and surrounded by the kind of natural beauty most cities can only dream of. From the Capitol Building, you can see both the Olympic Mountains and Mt. Rainier on a clear day. That alone could justify living here.

Olympia has unmatched coffee shop culture. If you love spending a rainy day in a cafe with your laptop or a book, you are in for a treat in Olympia.

And then there’s Capitol State Forest — 110,000 acres and more than 150 miles of trails. Nature isn’t just a backdrop in Olympia. It’s a co-author.

Arts & Culture
Olympia has a specific kind of weird — less Twin Peaks eerie, more DIY defiant. This is the birthplace of riot grrrl, the feminist punk rock movement that launched Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, and Bratmobile. It’s also home to the long-running Procession of the Species parade, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a joyful, community-made celebration of animals, imagination, and art.

Independence is baked into the city’s DNA — from its murals and record stores to the students and ethos of Evergreen State College. It’s a place where expression comes first and polish comes last, and that gives it real cultural soul.

What’s Not Working

Still a Government Town That’s Expensive

Despite some recent growth in the tech and creative sectors, Olympia’s economy remains overwhelmingly dependent on government jobs. That comes with a certain baseline of stability — but it’s not exactly a driver of innovation or rapid growth. And with post-COVID federal dollars drying up and a potential tightening in the current “Do More With Less” era of state budgets, that dependence starts to look like an economic ceiling.

The median price for a three-bedroom home in Olympia is around $535,800, up about 3% from last year. That may not seem outrageous compared to Seattle, but it’s still a heavy lift — especially when you consider that most workers here are in public sector jobs with modest, fixed salary bands. Two-income state employee households may be the norm, but even they can struggle to buy into the community they serve.

It’s So Rainy. So Gray.

Look, Seattle is rainy and gray. Portland is rainy and gray. But Olympia takes it to another level. The city averages 50 inches of rain a year — that’s 10 inches more than Seattle and nearly 15 more than Portland. That’s over four inches a month, consistently. And with that rain comes cloud cover, making any glimpse of the sun feel like a local holiday. It’s not just a weather pattern — it shapes mood, lifestyle, and, for many, the decision of whether this is a place they can really call home.

Earthquakes

Yes, it’s a bit unfair to hold a tectonic plate boundary against a city — no one in 1850 knew Olympia was perched atop the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which could produce a 9.0+ magnitude earthquake. But the threat of The Big One is real, and it’s a psychological and financial factor. Earthquake risk drives up insurance costs, adds complexity to infrastructure investments, and makes an already expensive housing market even more daunting.

People Doing the Work

In a city defined by it’s good government, it’s hard not to spotlight those folks.

Most cities hire their city managers from another city. It’s a classic position where people try to go up the ladder and expect to be in a city for a term and then find a job in a bigger city that pays more. Well, I don’t think anyone told this to Olympia’s City Manager Jay Burney. He started with the City in 1999 as a Project Manager in the Public Works Department, spent ten (!) years as Assistant City Manager where he no doubt got many offers to run cities smaller than Olympia, and has now been the City Manager since 2019. That is the definition of stability.

Marella Luz is one of those amazing people that carries a city’s culture scene on their back. They are a ceramic artist, the co-founder of the Olympia All-Ages Project, former general manager at K Records, and Mariella is now the Program Manager at Olympia Artspace Alliance. They’re also working on the Olympia Music History project and have served on both the Washington State Arts Commission and Artist Trust boards.

Mindie Reule is the President & CEO of the Community Foundation of South Puget Sound, where she has led the organization since 2019 with a focus on strengthening local philanthropy across Olympia as well as Thurston, Mason, and Lewis counties. Under her leadership, the Foundation has launched impactful initiatives like Give Local South Puget Sound, which has raised over $500,000 for area nonprofits, and established the Norma Schuiteman Sustaining Fund to support long-term organizational health.

2025 Capitol Score

Capitol Score is my subjective ranking (using a 10 point scale) on how the city stacks up with regards to place, innovation, arts & culture, and overall livability. A perfect score isn’t the goal, improvement is.

Olympia 2025 Capitol Score is 5.6

Olympia has a Capital Score Potential of 6.7

Three Policy Wishes

Just a quick note here. This is just me throwing ideas on the wall based on my limited knowledge of what’s happening. There are likely many many things that need improvement and the folks on the ground will always know more.

Make Olympia the National Model for Climate-Resilient Small Cities

Olympia is already ahead of most cities its population size on climate policy. Now it’s time to go further. The State should double down with bold investments in green infrastructure, energy efficiency, and low-carbon mobility — not just for Olympia’s benefit, but to create a real-time demonstration of what climate resilience can look like for small cities across the country. If you want others to follow, Olympia can build the blueprint.

Establish a Civic Identity Beyond State Government

Olympia can’t just be the place where legislation gets passed and state workers clock in and out. It needs a defining idea that draws people in and gives the city its own magnetic pull. This is a city just over an hour from Seattle and Tacoma and two from Portland — people will come here, but only if there’s a reason. Whether it’s an arts and culture corridor, a government-tech and green infrastructure innovation zone, or something else entirely, Olympia needs to plant a flag and stand for something beyond bureaucracy and beauty.

Make Capitol Campus a Global Best Practice in Public Space

The Capitol Campus is already one of the most stunning in the country — with the right investments in design and programming, it could be one of the most vibrant. Let’s go beyond field trips and protests. With placemaking, seasonal programming, and cultural activations, this could become a true civic commons — the kind of place residents use daily and visitors go out of their way to experience and put on their Instagram for more than the picture of the capitol. Let’s show the world how a state capital’s public space can work for everyone.

What’s Happening in Olympia?

Olympia-Tumwater rises to 8th among best-performing cities in 2025. This is from the Milken Institute’s rankings of metro areas — and I’ll be honest, it’s a surprising result. Olympia has seen real income growth and job creation, but “it feels” like lot of that appears tied to temporary post-COVID federal funding. The question is whether this momentum is sustainable or if it’s masking deeper structural limits in the local economy.

Olympia off track on climate goals, transportation largest contributor to emissions Yes, the results are disappointing — but honestly, the process is encouraging. Olympia is actively tracking its emissions, openly discussing its shortcomings in public meetings, and it’s being reported in the local press. I know that’s a low bar in a lot of places, but it’s refreshing to see transparency and accountability taken seriously.

‘We better wake up’: Microsoft’s Brad Smith sounds alarm as state enacts controversial tax plan You can’t build a revenue strategy around taxing your core industry more and hoping they stay loyal. That’s how you lose them. Washington needs a smarter approach — one that prioritizes growth, diversification, and a real plan to support the sectors driving innovation and future jobs.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be honest… I’m still trying to figure Olympia out. It’s stable, well-run, and saying the right things — on climate, equity, affordability. But something’s missing. It feels like a city that’s waiting — for a vision, for a spark, for permission to fully become something more. Maybe that’s by design. But the bones are here. Olympia has a chance to lead not just as a capital, but as a model for what small American cities can become in the decades ahead.

Capitol Rankings

Capitol score (Capitol potential)

1. Phoenix, 7.9 (8.4)

2. Des Moines, 6.7 (8.2)

3. Montpelier, 6.1 (6.3)

4. Olympia, 5.6 (6.7)

5. Little Rock, 4.9 (7.4)

6. Harrisburg, 4.3 (6.1)

Next week we hop on the SEPTA R3 line (SEPTA no longer uses this naming, but my Delco roots aren’t making that change with them) from Philly and visit Trenton.